the postwar fleet is larger, and these vessels are capable of operat- 

 ing at greater distances in offshore waters. 



A new trend has been the mothership tuna expeditions that have 

 been sent to the southwestern Pacific o The first expedition was 

 authorized by SCAP on May 11, 1950$ nine expeditions operated in a 

 limited area in the southwestern Pacific from June 1950 to November 

 1951 and produced approximately 385 500,000 pounds of tuna^ marlin, 

 sharkj and other fisheso Two expeditions operated in 1952, catching 

 14,250,000 pounds of fish (about 60 percent yellowf in) . The trend 

 toward a larger tuna fleet, using larger vessels and mothership-type 

 operations, makes it possible for Japan to supply increasing amounts 

 of those species (albacore and yellowfin mainly) which are the prin- 

 cipal export products in the tuna trade. At the same time home 

 markets can be supplied with the tunas preferred by the Japanese. 



The postwar rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Japanese 

 fishing industry, as a whole, has been made possible primarily by 

 Japanese Governnent official assistance, private bank financing and, 

 since 1949, by the use of United States Counterpart Funds. In the 

 fiscal year endir^ March 31 ,1951 the Japanese Government disbursed, 

 out of United States Counterpart Funds, a total of 380,000,000 yen 

 for the establishment of new freezing plants, cold-storage plants, 

 and ice factories. Of this total, about 100,000,000 yen was speci- 

 fically intended for processing fresh or frozen tuna for export. No 

 disbursement from the Counterpart Fund was made for this purpose in 

 the fiscal year ending March 1952. 



The landings of tuna and tunalike species in Japan are shown in 

 table 17o They indicate that in 1952 the Japanese tuna fisheries 

 were likely to exceed their pre-World War II production. 



The large tuna export trade developed by Japan is based mainly 

 on species not in great demand locally, with the exception of yellow- 

 fin. Consequently, a rasirked increase in the catch of albacore and 

 yellowfin has taken place, as shown in table 18. 



Tuna was first canned in oil experimentally in Japan in 1906. 

 Progress was slow, and an annual production of only 3,000 to 4,000 

 cases was attained by 1919 o No tuna was canned between 1920 and 

 1929 except on an experimental basis. In 1930, a cannery was estab- 

 lished at Shimiau for the production of tuna in oil, to be exported 

 to the United States where the decline in albacore landings created 



120 



